Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Garcia

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/07/07

HB

SHORT TITLE Legislative Campaign Funds for Office Duties

SB 796

ANALYST Wilson\Baca\Fernandez

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

2,029.3

2,029.3 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Companion to HJR 6 and SJR 12, Duplicates HB 820

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Senate Bill 796 amends Section 1-19-29.1 NMSA 1978 to prohibit the expenditure of campaign

contributions received by members of the legislature for duties reasonably related to their office;

and provides for an annual distribution to members of the legislature for expenses directly related

to the duties of their office after adoption of a constitutional amendment..

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Senate Bill 796 provides an annual distribution for expenses directly related to the duties of the

member’s office not to exceed 15 percent of the annual salary provided for the justices of the

Supreme Court. In FY07, the annual salary of the each justice of the Supreme Court is

$115,041. If HJR 6 is approved by the Legislature then subsequently approved by the people at

the next general election or a special election, legislators would be entitled to an annual

distribution of approximately $17,256. Assuming this annual distribution amount multiplied by

112 legislators, the cost to implement this proposal would be approximately $1,932,683. If the

justices of the Supreme Court receive a salary increase of 5 percent FY08, the cost of this

proposal in FY08 would be $2,029,317 or $18,119/member.

Depending on when the proposal would be approved would determine the fiscal year when the

impact would occur.

Senate Bill 796 – Page

2

Language in the proposal does not define expenses related to the duties of the member’s office.

Thus it is not clear if legislators would only be paid for expenses incurred. If this is the case, it

could be anticipated that some legislators would receive less than the annual amount of $18,119.

Secretary of State may incur additional expenses to place this proposal on the ballot at the next

general election. The exact costs are unknown but should be minimal.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Legislative compensation was an issue considered by the Governor’s Task Force on Ethics

Reform and is under consideration by the Legislative Structure and Process Study Task Force.

In the Governor’s Task Force on Ethics Reform, Report of Recommendations, the task force

recommended $10,000 annually for legislative expense reimbursement accounts. “Funds from

the legislative expense reimbursement accounts should be used by legislators to pay for the

expenses directly related to their legislative duties. Such expenses might include staff,

telephone, travel and other constituent service-related expenses. Legislators should only be paid

for expenses incurred." The recommendation anticipated that some legislators would receive

less than the annual amount of $10,000.

The Legislative Structure and Process Study Task Force will produce a final report of its

conclusions and recommendations by December 21, 2007 for action during the 2008 legislative

session.

The information comparing actions regarding salaries and expenses for legislators in other states

are shown on the attachment obtained form the NCSL website.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Passage of Senate Bill 796 and HJR 6 would result in additional administrative duties to

Legislative Council Service for the processing of the annual payments and possibly the

validation of expenses directly related to the duties of a member’s office.

Legislative Council Service would likely develop guidelines to provide for the distribution to

members.

The effective date when this would go into effect if approved by the voters is not clear. That is,

if approved by the voters would it be effective the following fiscal year beginning on July 1.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

SB 796 relates to HJR 6, the resolution proposing the constitutional amendment necessary to

implement the provisions of this bill which shall become effective upon certification by the

secretary of state that the constitution of New Mexico has been amended as proposed by HJR 6.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

If this bill and the accompanying constitutional amendment are not adopted, legislators will not

receive compensation for expenses they incur in the performance of their duties as proposed.

Senate Bill 796 – Page

3

They will continue to absorb those expenses related to the performance of their duties which are

not reimbursed from public funds or campaign contributions.

Attachment

DW/LB/CF/csd

Senate Bill 796 – Page

4

ATTACHMENT

NCSL Backgrounder: Full- and Part-Time Legislatures

In the Blue states, average lawmakers spends the equivalent of half of a full-time job doing legislative work. The compensation they

receive for this work is quite low and requires them to have other sources of income in order to make a living. The blue states have

relatively small staffs. They are often called traditional or citizen legislatures and they are most often found in the smallest

population, more rural states. Again, NCSL has divided these states into two groups. The legislatures in Blue are the most traditional

or citizen legislatures. The legislatures in Blue Lite are slightly less traditional. States are listed alphabetically within subcategories.

Table 1 shows the breakdown of states by category. Table 2 shows the average scores for the Red, White and Blue states for time

on the job, compensation and staff size. For 2005 legislator compensation figures, go to

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/aboutl05salary. htm.

Table 1. Red, White and Blue Legislatures

Red Red Light White Blue Light

Blue

California Alaska

Alabama Missouri Georgia Montana

Michigan Illinois

Arizona Nebraska Idaho

New

New York Florida

Arkansas North

Indiana Hampshire

Pennsylvania Ohio

Colorado Carolina Kansas North

Massachusetts Connecticut Oklahoma Maine

Dakota

New Jersey Delaware Oregon Mississippi South

Wisconsin Hawaii South

Nevada Dakota

Iowa

Carolina New Mexico Utah

Kentucky Tennessee Rhode Island Wyoming

Louisiana Texas

Vermont

Maryland Virginia West Virginia

Minnesota Washington

Source: NCSL 2004

Source: NCSL 2004

Table 2. Average Job

Time,

Compensation and Staff Size by

Category

of

Legislature

Category

of

Legislature

Time

on the Job

Compensation Staff per Member

(1)

(2)

(3)

Red

80%

$68,599

8.9

White

70%

$35,326

3.1

Blue

54%

$15,984

1.2

Notes:

1. Estimated proportion of a full-time job spent on legislative work including time in

session, constituent service, interim committee work, and election campaigns.

2. Estimated annual compensation of an average legislator including salary, per diem,

and any other unvouchered expense payments.

3. Ratio of total legislative staff to number of legislators.

Source: NCSL, 2004